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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Recent Thrifts or To the Driver Go the Spoils

So, as you may or may not know or be experiencing in your own neck of the woods (ahhh woods, nice, shady woods...) we are creeping up on our third or fourth or seventh day over 100 degrees!!

Which means serious projects are put on temporary hiatus while we all just sit around, staring at each other, listening to the hum of our one little window unit AC and trying to move as little as possible. That is unless you're going somewhere that's air conditioned. In which case, move as quickly as possible to put your dang shoes on and blow this popsicle stand (mmmm popsicles...). One place that's air conditioned? Thrift stores. My mom and I have gone to a couple in the past week. She got a really terrific little cabinet that I was kind of jealous about even though I have no place to put it and I got some stuff too!

Namely, these chairs.


$1.48 each. They're in pretty good shape.
Why buy two chairs you may ask? Why not, I might say. But seriously, I've been meaning to do something with our dining room sitch for a while now. It's basically just a big empty room with a hand-me-down table and some Craigslist chairs. It's all well and good but I'm thinking I want a table that's a little more substantial/sturdy and Conan just happens to have one. He got it for free at a Border's back when Border's was still a thing and it's been sitting in his dad's shed ever since. It's real long and kind of farmhouse-y. I'm not quite sure what to do with it but I think I might be painting/staining it to make it a little more contemporary looking and then putting a whole bunch of different kinds of neat chairs around it like those up there. That explanation was needlessly long. I apologize. It's the heat. And also the fact that I am having the hardest time explaining what is in my head with regards to my dining room plans.


In other, semi-related news, after weeks and weeks of sporadically taking stick shift driving lessons from Conan, I finally worked up the nerve to drive his car all the way to work today and back (this is a necessity since my '83 Celebrity has bitten the big one - that's right, my car and I were the same vintage). Watch out, Lady Edith! If you've never driven a stick shift before, let me assure you, this is a big deal. So big in fact that I decided to take a little detour after work and stop by the D.A.V. thrift store. What was my reward for only killing it at one stop light?


This absolutely gorgeous marble utensil holder. It was a little pricey for my usual thrifty sensibilities but I was on the high of shifting from third to fourth without looking down at the gear mover thingy so, whatever. $15. There. I'm not proud of it. Actually, I am. It's beautiful and it completes me : )


Also, it puts me one step closer to having the kitchen completely complete which puts all of you one step closer to seeing pictures of the whole thing. Seriously. This week. It's happening. I said it out loud so now I don't have a choice, do I?
Welp, time to go and be hot. See you on the flippity-flip!

6 comments:

  1. I love your marble utensil holder! I have so often wanted to buy one but could never justify the cash, $15 is a steal! And, as someone who currently has ten dining room chairs (all scored free), I think those chairs are lovely and have lots of farmhouse potential! I'm planning on painting four of my chairs black... someday when we need them in our kitchen.

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    1. Thanks for helping me justify my purchase : ) I had a feeling that a new one would fetch much more. And since these chairs were only $1.50 I think I might consider painting them, maybe. I really can't get together in my mind what I want to do yet but since they were so cheap, I wouldn't feel too bad if I did.

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  2. That marble utensil holder is beautiful. I think it goes so perfectly in your kitchen. Love the chairs and I totally get what you're going for with your dining situation.

    Also, major congrats on learning to drive a stick! When I was in high school (back in the dark ages where you actually had driver's ed) they were teaching us in an all automatic car. My father said I wasn't going to be driving something like that so he taught me to drive in our VW Super Beetle. I far prefer driving a stick and, in my turn, taught my daughter. Always a useful skill to have.

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    1. Thank you, thank you! I love it sooooo much. I stare at it every time I'm in the kitchen. And also, thanks for understanding what's going on in my crazy head regarding the dining room, it's nice to know that someone else gets it : ) Just the other day, someone I work with said that when he was taking driver's ed they only had an automatic also, so Volkswagon actually donated a car for them to learn stick on! Your daughter is very lucky! My mom tried to teach me and it was a total disaster (my fault, not hers)!

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    2. I think you'll find there are far fewer manual transmission cars that get stolen than automatics. Reason? Most people, and this includes the thieves, don't know HOW to drive a stick! Booya!

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    3. Excellent point! Booya, indeed!

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